Love Is Not A Sin

Inspired by the desire to celebrate the universal beauty of love in all its forms, Wild Ponies—the acclaimed Nashville-based band helmed by singer-songwriting duo Doug and Telisha Williams—unveils “Love Is Not a Sin,” a brand new song and companion video featuring fan-sourced footage of people and their loved ones.

The band recently recorded the pro-equality anthem between tour dates, sparked by an idea Doug had while performing a cover of Patti Smith’s “Gloria” at a recent benefit.“It was the line ‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine,’” he says. “It just made me think that conceding that any kind of love was a sin was giving up more ground than you needed to give. It made me look at how we think about love and relationships and wonder how anyone could be offended by two people being loving, wonderful contributing members of society.”

In thinking about a video to accompany the song, the band put out a call to their fans asking for photos of themselves with their loved ones, significant others, family and friends. The project description posted on their website notes, “Gay? Straight? Black? White? A mix up of all those things, or something else? Great! To be completely clear, this is a PRO marriage equality song. This is a PRO love song, both same or opposite sex, race, or ethnicity. If you’re not cool with that, then you simply don’t have to submit a photo.”

When asked why the band is tackling this issue now, in a space not traditionally associated with activism for marriage equality, Doug says, “It’s a strange time. People are upset about love, and upset that other people want to put more of it in the world and live their lives together. I don’t really understand that. This is me trying to write a song that people on both sides might listen to—a song that might even make a difference in someone’s thinking. Maybe the folks who are just a little bit on the other side, just across the line, might hear it and re-think their position.”

The song will likely turn up on the band’s forthcoming, as-yet-untitled 2015 LP and is one of a handful of new tunes they will be road testing on their current U.S. tour. Things That Used To Shine, the band’s 2013 studio debut, marked a musical departure from Doug and Telisha’s earlier work as an acoustic duo and spent nearly six months on the Americana Music Association Top 40 chart. The album won praise for its tackling of difficult and personal subjects such as abuse and recovery.

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